THE Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) has resolved to scrap the current central university admission system following years of loud complaints.

“We will introduce the new system in the 2018 academic year,” CUPT president Udom Kachintorn announced yesterday.

While the move is designed to tackle problems with university admissions, educators welcomed it with reservations.

“I think the new system will solve just 60 per cent of the existing problems and it will cause some new problems,” Sompong Jitradub, an academic from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education, said.

Under the new system, Mathayom 6 graduates will take the general aptitude test, the professional and academic attitude test, and tests in nine key subjects in mid-March. Scores will be announced and students will enter the clearing-house stage.

During this stage, students will have to identify their four favourite university programmes.

The higher their scores, the better chance they have of furthering their studies at their favourite institution.

After the results are announced, students will be given another chance if they fail to get into their preferred university. They can pick new choices and wait for the clearing-house results.

After the clearing-house process is completed, higher educational institutes will recruit new students to fill vacant seats.

Udom announced the CUPT resolution yesterday, after emerging from an extraordinary meeting between the CUPT and the Office of Higher Education Commission. Education Minister General Dapong Ratanasuwan presided over the meeting.

“We will officially submit our plan to the education minister on September 5,” he said.

The current university admission was criticised for putting too much pressure on students, as the admission periods for universities run throughout the year.

Critics also said the current system widened the gap between the rich and the poor. Students who can pay application fees to more universities have an advantage over those who cannot.

Nation University president Asst Prof Pong-In Rakariyatham, who chairs the CUPT admission-forum panel, said CUPT would also detail the changes to Rajabhat universities, Rajamangala universities of technology, and private universities on Monday.

“We will work on further details only after all sides have approved the plan,” he said.

While many people find the new system reminiscent of the system that had been in place between 1961 and 2001, Pong-In said there were differences.

Chaiyaphum Rajabhat University lecturer Kriangsak Chokworakul believed the new system would be beneficial overall but would place Rajabhat universities at a disadvantage when it came to attracting students.

“Rajabhat universities will become the last choice. That way, we will lose the chance of attracting the cream of the talent,” he said.

He said Rajabhat universities focused on recruiting local students but the central system meant some new students might not be locals.

“The problem is that some students who live far away may not really want to study at Rajabhat universities,” he said.